West Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘ear’ and now look at ‘west’.

West Country, in referring to my favourite part of England in Devon and Cornwall, has been used since the late 14th century.

West Coast, as in that shore of the USA, is first seen in 1850.

West End (of London), known since 1776. West-Enders have been named such since 1833.

West Side, the part of Manhattan which gave a name to a famous musical, could not have been written before 1858 as that was the first year anyone recorded such.

Go west, as in dying, became popular during the First World War, but may have been in use for more than two thousand years. In 17th century London the phrase was used to mean ‘a hanging’, almost certainly a reference to Tyburn.

West Indies have been known since around 1650 – although West Indians is not seen until 1928.

Mae West, slang for a inflatable life jacket, is first found in 1940. It takes its name from a buxom film star of the same name, and you can work the connection out for yourself.

West Bank, the former Jordanian territory, has been known as such since 1967.

Westerns, as in films or books about the Old West in the US, is first seen in 1909.

Western omelettes, first recorded in 1922, contain ham and onions.

Nobody was westernized until 1837.

Westerly winds have been described since the 15th century.

Nothing is found for southwesterlies until 1833, although the sou’wester (protective nautical coat) is seen thjree years later.

Northwesterlies have been known since the 14th century.

Northwest Passage is found in a document since 1600.

Storm Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘rain’ and now look at ‘storm’.

Taking something by storm comes from military terminology, first seen around 1680.

Doing something up a storm dates from 1946.

Storm doors are not recorded before 1872.

Storm-tossed, a term normally only used by writers, is seen in print for the first time in 1610.

Storm-bird is seen from 1752, today we refer to it as a petrel.

Storm clouds are unrecorded before 1822.

Dust storms are not described as such until 1838.

Storm troopers are first recorded in 1933, however this had nothing to do with a galaxy far, far away, these were members of the Nazi Sturmabteiling or earlier the German military sturmtruppen during the First World War.

Barnstorming began in 1815, and referred specifically to short theatrical performances of a smutty or vulgar kind. So-called because they were performed in barns in upstate New York. By 1896 the term had started to be used to refer to electioneering tours; and in 1928 to pilots who performed stunts at fairs and during air races. Thunderstorms were not known until 1560.

Snowstorms have been known as such since 1771.

Hailstorms come between the above two, seen since 1690.

Rainstorms are, considering the previous three examples, quite recent in only appearing in writing since 1804.

Brainstorm is a term used since 1861, when it referred to a fit of delirious malaria or sudden loss of the ability to reason. Prior to that, and also as a noun, it was a symptom of a disease seen to be increasing in strength or repetitiveness. The modern use of ‘a concerted attack on a problem’ comes from 1947; while another sense of ‘a brilliant idea’ was around from 1934.

Firestorms have been around since the 1580.

Windstorms have been known since the late 14th century.

Wind Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘ground’ and now look at ‘wind’.

Nobody was long-winded until the 14th century – great days those, great days.

Not until 1830 did anyone get their second wind, and that was initially only used in hunting circles.

Orchestral wind instruments were not referred to by that collective term until 1876 – well that blows.

Knowing ‘which way the wind blows’, in a figurative sense, appears as early as the 14th century.

To get wind of, as in information, appears in writing in 1809.

Also figuratively ‘to take the wind from one’s sails’ is not seen until 1883.

Nobody had heard of ‘wind chill’ until 1939 (prior to that is was just ‘cold’).

Wind energy first appears in 1976.

Wind vanes appear as early as 1725, albeit they must have been used for centuries before then.

Around the end of the 14th century we started to ‘get wind of’, but it referred to scenting something. The figurative sense is first seen in 1809.

To wind, as in to make breathless, is seen from 1802 and used specifically when discussing pugilism.

Predictably windsocks were only first described in 1922.

Crosswind is first recorded in 1725.

Windbreaks must have been planted and used for centuries, but not described until 1861.

Windward first occurs in print in the 1540s.

Windsurfing was unheard of before 1969.

Windbreaker, the item of clothing, was coined in 1918.

Upwind was a nautical term used from 1838.

Windhover, an alternative name for the kestrel, is first attested in the 1670s.

Windfall, the fruit dislodged by a breeze, is first recorded in the middle of the 15th century. Interesting to note the figurative sense of ‘unexpected acquisition’ first appeared as early as 1540.

Windswept, not only originally referring to hair but still mainly used in that sense today, is first seen in 1932.

Windpipe, also known as the trachea, is first described in the 1520s.

Windscreen is first seen in 1905, the US windshield first appears three years earlier.

Whirlwind is first seen in the middle of the 14th century, it began as a Norse term hvirfilvindr.

Windmill is first recorded in the late 13th century, most mills were water powered prior to this, and the use of the word to describe someone waving their arms around first appears in 1888.

Break Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'money' last time and this time it's 'break'.

Break even, in a financial sense, has been known since 1914.

The straw that broke/breaks the camels back began as an English proverb "It is the last straw which breaks the camel's back" which sounds much better to me. First seen around 1755, by the time it had become fixed (around 1830s) the phrase had undergone many changes. Different forms in the late 18th and early 19th centuries saw the camel replaced by a horse or an elephant.

Break bread, a phrase meaning 'to share a meal with', is not recorded before the end of the 14th century.

Break dancing is not recorded in print before 1982, although the dance style was known in the late 70s in South Bronx.

Break one's heart - it seems nobody had their heart broken, at least in print, before the end of the 14th century.

Gaol (Jail) break has been used since at least 1735.

Breakneck, earlier not just associated with speed but anything deemed hazardous, is first recorded in the 1560s.

Breakwater, that structure which produces a safe harbour by holding back the worst of the waves, is first recorded in 1721.

Break wind, fart if you prefer - and I did hear it on the BBC's Blue Peter (the word that is, not the fart) making it most certainly acceptable - did not appear in print until around 1550. Did people break wind before 1550? Yes, they just didn't refer to it as such.

Break the ice is not known before 1600.

Break a leg, the traditional theatrical way to wish someone good luck, is a tradition which is only from 1948, although that reference does suggest it was used since the 1920s. There is also a German version, which translates as 'break your neck and leg'.

Synonym Etymologies G

Continuing the look at synonyms through the eyes of the etymologist, this time it is the letter G and gas. This I found a little more difficult as there are dozens of synonyms for 'gas' but this is because 'gas' has so many uses - but, as ever, I will give it a try. In the most basic sense it is a state of matter (along with solid and liquid). It is first used in English around the middle of the 17th century and taken from the Dutch. This, in turn, came from the Greek khaos which did not mean 'chaos' but 'empty space'.

Excellent or exciting (it's a gas) was first used in 1953, derived from the earlier hipster term 'gasser' and with the same meaning. But there is a rather earlier use of the term, albeit in the phrase 'everything is gas and goiters' by none other than Charles Dickens in 1839. Note, as I've said so many times, just because a word first appears in print with a certain meaning on a certain date, it does not mean it is the first use of same - indeed, it is safe to assume the vast majority of apparently 'new' words were already in use before they appeared in print, otherwise the reader would likely not have a clue what the writer was talking about. And, let's face it, that would be quite diabelisimilitudinal.

The American use of 'gas' as a shortened form of 'gasoline', first used in the USA in 1864 and itself first used as 'gasolene' in Britain the year earlier. It may come as a surprise to learn it began as a trade name, the fuel burning as a vapour, with the addition of -ol- to denote 'oil' and -ine as a chemical suffix.

Petrol, as the British would know it, is a shortened form of 'petroleum' which, once again, uses 'the -ol- or 'oil' with a perceived chemical suffix -eum. The first element shows it was extracted from rock, for it uses the Latin petra 'rock'.

Vapour, having already mentioned the word and it also once being used in the sense of 'gasses', comes from Old French where it was used to mean 'moisture' as much as 'vapour'. Note the idea of 'the vapours', used from the middle of the 17th century and a reference to anything from fainting to hysteria to fitting, was the then idea it came from exhalations from internal organs of the torso which would be affecting the brain.

Air and, having got away from the gasseous meaning, come back to the original sense. It came to English from Old French air and Latin aer, both with the same meaning, and Greek aer which more often spoke of 'mist, haze, clouds' and later 'atmosphere'. It seems the word originated in Proto-Indo-European aeirein which was used to mean 'raise' and also 'windpipe' and a third meaning of 'artery'. Indeed, this last meaning has also given us the name of the body's major artery the 'aorta'.

Atmosphere seems to be the next logical step, an obviously Greek origin where atmos spoke of 'steam, vapour' and sphaira or 'sphere' combine to describe what the Greeks saw as the contaminated part of the lower part of the air as opposed to the pure and untainted upper air where the gods resided.

Talk is another sense for 'gas', albeit in a negative and slang sense meaning 'empty talk'. It is first seen in print in 1847 and is likely the reason it became used to mean 'joke, funny' as it was by James Joyce in 1917.

Babble is, like many words which describe language difficult to comprehend, imitative of whatever they reference - in this case it is baby talk. Other words which similarly ridicule the speaker are: 'gobbledegook' or imitative of a turkey; 'cuckoo' another suggesting a person is bird-brained; 'jargon' is derived from a phrase meaning 'to twitter like birds'; 'barbarous' tells us they are 'non-Greek speakers' (how atrocious); and 'bafflegab', probably the best of the lot and one which should be brought back into general use.

Wind, which comes from the Proto-Indo-European root we 'to blow', is listed here as it is also used as a slighter more polite term for 'gas' as used to refer to air trapped and/or released by the body. Most often, at least in Britain, it describes air trapped in the upper digestive tract - dyspepsia is another term - and thus rather badly named as the discomfort caused in down to trapped air and thus not moving (or windy) in the usual sense. Research revealed the word 'wind' had been used to rhyme with 'hind, rind, behind' until as recently as the 18th century. Even I, who is known for not appreciating poetry, sympathise with poets (the real poets, the rhyming ones) as it severely limits potential rhymes.

Heartburn and, having mentioned dyspepsia/indigestion, clearly confuses the associated pain/discomfort with a cardiac problem. Yet that has only been the case since the 15th century, prior to that the term was used to describe 'anger' or 'bitterness' (1400) and to refer to 'lust' (13th century).

Fart, and if I omit this four-letter offering I'll only be deluged by emails again (thankfully not from Mrs Trellis), has gone almost unchanged since language has been recorded and has never meant anything else. Interestingly, if farting could ever be classified as interesting, until at least the Middle Ages there was also the term 'clatterer' which described one known for their 'clatterfarts', which is an onomatopaeic word refers specifically to audible farts, tending to suggest that other farts around this time were silent farts.

Venezuela Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Venezuelan cities.

Caracas, the capital city, named by Spanish explorers after the local tribe, it was originally known as Santiago de Leon de Caracas where Saint James, the patron saint of Spain, preceded Don Pedro Ponce de Leon, the provincial governor.

Maracaibo is held to be from the brave cacique or chief named Mara, who resisted and was killed fighting the Spanish. Legend says the name comes from Mara kayo meaning 'Mata fell!. Others give the originas maara iwo or 'place where serpents abound' - you can see why the legend is preferred.

Valencia is clearly a transferred name from Spain. While the Spanish origin is clearly irrelevant here, it is noted the name means 'strength, valour'.

Barquisimeto comes from the local Caquetio people who describe the region of 'the ash-coloured river'.

Barcelona, like Valencia, is a name transferred from Spain where the name is said to remember Hamilcar Barca, supposed founder of the place in the 3rd century BC.

Maturin was named after the Indian chief El Indio Maturin.

Merida is named after the home town of founder Juan Rodriguez Suarez. The Spanish place name comes from the Latin emerita meaning 'retired, veteran'.

Ciudad Bolivar is 'the city Bolivar'. Simon Bolivar was a Venezuelan military and political leader known as The Liberator.

Barinas comes from the local tongue and describes a seasonal strong wind.

Los Teques takes its name from the indigenous tribe Aroctoeques Carabs.

Punto Fijo was said to refer to a place where travellers and fishermen stopped, for it means 'the fixed point'.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Solomon Islands Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at some of the largest settlements of the Solomon Islands.

Honiara is the capital of the Solomon Islands and has a name derived from nagho ni ara which transaltes as 'place of the east wind' or 'facing the southeast wind' depending on which Guadalcanal language it comes from.

Malaita is the largest of the Solomon islands, an island known to the locals as simply Mala while Malaita first appears in the logs of Spanish explorers arriving her in the 16th century. The suffix is said to be either 'there' or 'east' depending on the source consulted.

Orona is an island which has also been known as Hull Island, this to honour Commondore Isaac Hull, of the United States Navy (d1843).

Guadalcanal takes its name from the Spanish village, it discovered by the Spanish in 1568. While the name of the original means 'river of the stalls', it was due to the Spanish explorer and navigator Alvaro de Mendana de Neira being born in Guadalcanal, Spain that it was chosen by his captain Pedro de Ortega.

Nendo was known as Santa Cruz by Spanish explorers.

Santa Isabel was also first recorded and named by the Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana, although when he charted the island in February 1568, he named it Santa Isabel de la Estrella 'St Elizabeth of the Star of Bethlehem'.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Namibia Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Namibian cities.

Windhoek has a number of explanations, although most believe it comes from the Afrikaans wind-hoek or 'wind corner'. Others point to Captain Jonker Afrikaner, who is reported to have named the place after the Winterhoek Mountains in South Africa, home to his ancestry, and suggested as there is no earlier mention of Windhoek until a letter from the captain in August 1844.

Walvis Bay is named, somewhat obviously, after the bay on which it stands. Its name comes from the Afrikaans for 'whale bay'.

Swakopmund is German for 'mouth of the Swakop'. This river name comes from the Nama word Tsoakhaub meaning 'excrement opening'. This rather undignified origin actually refers to the river in flood, when it carries all manner of rubbish to the Atlantic, dead animals were particularly noticeable. There is a second explanation, this from the San language where xwaka ob refers to 'rhinocerous river', although this does not seem likely for these pachyderms are not particularly associated with water.

Henties Bay, the name of the town as well as the bay, recalls 1929 when Major Hendrik 'Henty' Stefanus van der Merwe discovered the place while looking for water. He and his party had been hunting for rhino, he looking to claim a reward offered by a Pennsylvania museum for a complete skeleton. Having killed the beast, it was stripped of its flesh and the bones carried it to the coast where, while desperately searching for water, they discovered this valley and its fresh water. He later returned to this spot to build a hut showing the water source and it developed into a tourist destination.

Omaruru is from the local Otjiherero language, it translates as 'bitter milk' and a reminder of when cattle grazed on a native bush which resulted in their milk tasting bitter.

Otjiwarongo is also from the Otjiherero language, this translating as 'beautiful place'.

Okahandja is a third from the Otjiherero tongue, this referring to 'where two rivers flow together to form one wide one', a rather long explanation for a confluence.

Grootfontein translates as 'large spring' and reminds us of the nearby hot springs.

Mariental is named after the wife of Hermann Brandt, they headed up the first colony to settle here.

Outjo is the Otjiherero word for 'small hills'.

Gobabis had always been a region where elephants were common. This leading to it becoming a base for ivory hunters and doubling as a trading post. The name of Gobabis is said to be named by colonists who spoke of the goba bis 'the place where people quarelled'. However, it is not clear just what they were arguing about, perhaps the sense should be seen as bartering more than a disagreement. Earlier the local Khoekhoegowab word khoandabesor 'where the elephant came to lick'.

Keetmanshoop is named after Johann Keetman, a German industrialist and the city's principal benefactor. Earlier the place had been known as Nutgoaes or 'black marsh'.

Karasburg is a reminder of the 'karst springs' found here, the waters contain a high degree of dissolved minerals from the soft limestone rocks.

Luderitz is named after Hanseat Adolf Luderitz, a merchant and founder of German South West Africa.

Oranjemund is German for 'mouth of the Orange', the river named by Colonel Robert Gordon in honour of William V of Orange. Previously it had been known as the Groote Rivier or 'great river' by the Dutch, and earlier still as the Gariep, a name which has returned to favour recently, means 'big water'.

Arandis comes from the Khoekhoegowab meaning 'the place where people cry' and is home to the world's largest uranium mine.

Usakos is from the Damara word for 'grab the heel'.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.